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~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none. BE the bright!

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Don’t miss it

23 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, color, encouragement, gardening, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight

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encouragement, macro, nature, photography, sparkling, sunlight

Yesterday I took a poinsettia outside to shake out the dead leaves. One leaf from the poinsettia had fallen. And then it rained during the night.

The day was busy but from the dining room, the tiny sparkle caught my eye.

The poinsettia leaf was no longer on the plant. During the night, it rained.

The poinsettia leaf was no longer on the plant. During the night, it rained.

I looked closer and it was even sparklier.

The poinsettia leaf had fallen but it was still good for something. It held rain.

The poinsettia leaf had fallen but it was still good for something. It held rain.

What are you missing today? Is there something you need to look at? What is tiny and quiet that you forgot? Love it all. And if you’re what has fallen, collect light from where you are.

Even a fallen leaf can still be bright. Don't waste anything, even hitting bottom.

Even a fallen leaf can still be bright. Don’t waste anything, even hitting bottom.

Never give up.

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31 Wonderful Things Severe Pain Taught Me

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, encouragement, God, Inspirational, nature, Scoliosis, Uncategorized

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All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, encouragement, inspirational, nature, pain, photography

31 Wonderful Things Severe Pain Taught Me

He gave me a bouquet.

He gave me a bouquet.

1. Your mind is very powerful. “Mind over matter” makes sense when you’re dealing with crippling pain. Fill your mind with wisdom and knowledge. There is plenty of room for thoughts that aren’t related to your pain at all.

2. You’ve heard it said, but those who have been there truly know: You ARE much stronger than you ever thought humanly possible. If you think today’s pain is a 10, downgrade it to a six. Then rejoice that you’re still 4 away from max.

3. There may or may not be another day. But time is on your side. Time is not the enemy because God is in charge of your time. And God never makes mistakes.

4. You CAN adapt.

5. These statements are simultaneously true: Things can always get worse… AND… This is the worst it will ever get. Which means this moment, right here, right now, can be the most fantastic moment you’ve ever had. Make it that way.

6. There are many ways of coping with pain. If one way doesn’t work, try something different.

7. Laughter can be The Best Medicine Ever. You’ve got to try it! Read humor, watch comedy, laugh with family and friends. Don’t just hope laughter might happen, deliberately make it happen.

8. Distractions are valuable. Listen, taste, see, smell, feel something new. Enjoy it slow.

9. Friends are pure gold, whether they’re wearing skin or fur.

10. Don’t let the sick part of you stop the healthy part of you. Let pain take up only its own space. If your head hurts but your hands are fine, let your hands delight in the day.

11. It’s never too late to learn something new, even something challenging. Learn a new language, study geography, literature, science, art.

12. There is a time to fight pain and a time to roll with pain. When pain is an ocean, be a fish.

13. Always take a little less pain medication than you need. Learn to be comfortable with pain instead of always trying to banish it.

14. Be glad if you have identified your pain-bearing limit. Then work to stretch it further.

15. You CAN do this! You can live WITH pain. Don’t listen to any voices that say you can’t. Don’t listen to voices that only want to lay pity on you. They aren’t helpful and you end up stuck in a swamp.

sunset-beach-nc-6139

16. It’s OK to cry. Let your eyes express and acknowledge pain. But remember to let your mouth smile. Your mouth is good for that.

17. Pain is divisive. It will divide parts of your body from functioning together. It will divide people from functioning together. Fight against further dysfunction. Recognize the crevasses caused by pain and build bridges to go over.

18. Remember that this life is not the end. We were created to live after our bodies can’t go further. This life is the path to the next.

19. Pain is a heavy weight, sticky and personal. Don’t make your pain an issue that pulls others down into the stickiness. Let others help lift you up from it.

20. Pain is a noun. Give it a name… like Motivator, Teacher, or Police. Artist, Poet or Musician. Rest or Transformation. Never let pain become Politician, Spoiled Child, Bully or Tyrant. Make your pain the noun you want to live with.

21. Pain is a story, with a beginning, middle and end. Write the story you want pain to be.

22. If you face pain, face it fully. If you run from pain, don’t miss the scenery.

23. You do have a strong will. But maybe you let it get weak. Work at strengthening your will power.

24. Pain is dark. Find ways to add more light. There are always ways to add light. Find ways to “Be the Bright.”

25. There will always be something excellent that you can derive from pain. Don’t look for the damage pain caused, look for the benefit.

26. Don’t confuse fear with pain. Fear can be conquered even if pain can’t be.

27. Everyone has pain. You are NOT alone.

28. Pain can be ugly or beautiful. You’re in charge of that.

29. Don’t let pain get louder than it should be. Pain only has a voice if you give it one. If Pain needs to speak, try letting it speak through writing, through painting, through music. Some of the most beautiful art in this world was created with pain.

30. Listen to other people. Even if that’s all you can do, it’s ok to just listen.

31. God is here now and he knows everything about pain. Have some great discussions on the topic with him.

I’m praying for you. Sometimes it’s not about the completed painting, the final finish line. Today there is beauty in the brushstrokes, the breaths taken one after the other. Today the beauty is in the heartbeat and the single footstep, the eye contact and hand holding.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Every breath has enormous value.

You can do this!
sunset-beach-nc

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Sunset Beach encouragement

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, encouragement, God, nature, photography, Scripture, sunset

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allsparkledup, encouragement, light, ocean, photography, scripture, sunset

This is the way
It’s ok. Trust God. He’s not silent.

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Roses peeking in the window!

15 Friday May 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, encouragement, flowers, gardening, God, Inspirational, nature

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All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, encouragement, flowers, gardening, God, inspiration, nature, New Dawn, roses, window

I can’t count the number of friends whose lives are really complicated right now. I’m included in that number. So many troubles are weighing heavy on our hearts. But through it all, God is still there and still in charge.

This year, he gave me a little surprise again. Several weeks ago, I noticed New Dawn rose buds in the window!

The New Dawn rose has grown all the way up to my second story kitchen window again.

The New Dawn rose has grown all the way up to my second story kitchen window again.

New Dawn rose buds peek in the kitchen window.

New Dawn rose buds peek in the kitchen window.

3 Rose New Dawn
My kitchen window is on the second floor and I don’t have planters in the windows. The patio isn’t finished, the paint is peeling, lots of things are falling apart.

The patio is still unfinished.

The patio is still unfinished.

Due to disability, I had to let a lot of things go, such as pruning and training the New Dawn rose bush. Just when it was getting to a good age to work with, my spine was collapsing so there were a half dozen years that disappeared.

The New Dawn rose bush is an untrained mess, tangled up with the honeysuckle bush.

The New Dawn rose bush is an untrained mess, tangled up with the honeysuckle bush.

Those were the thorn years. Lots of tangles and brambles.

We have to be careful walking down the stairs because the railing is lined with large, sharp thorns.

We have to be careful walking down the stairs because the railing is lined with large, sharp thorns.

Even then, good things keep growing. Never forget that… GOOD THINGS KEEP GROWING.

Look how far that rose has grown! All the way to the window!

Look how far that rose has grown! All the way to the window!

All the way up to my kitchen window, the rose bush reached.
8 Rose New Dawn
The roses didn’t care that the paint was peeling.
9 Rose New Dawn
10 Rose New Dawn

Does God know where we are? Does he know our dark space? Can he see our need for beauty and goodness?

Does God know where we are? Does he know our dark space? Can he see our need for beauty and goodness?

Yes, God is aware. He knows what we need. And all those little buds lined up in my window to say Good Things Keep Growing.
12 Rose New Dawn buds
The roses are blooming now. But the weight of them is pulling the vine over.
13 Rose New Dawn blooming
I put three nails and a loose wire up to hold the roses up so I can see them from the kitchen again.
14 Rose New Dawn blooming
Roses in the window!
15 Rose New Dawn blooming
And how fitting that the rose is called New Dawn. Even without a window box of nourishing dirt, 20 feet from the ground, never stopping, the roses are peeking in my window to remind me Good Things Keep Growing.

Good things keep growing.

Good things keep growing.

And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Is 58:11

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Stand tall

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in Easter, encouragement

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Easter, easter chicks, encouragement, never give up, stuffies

Chicks and Cat

Easter dinner was over and we were feeling festive. Then the chicks stood up to make a statement. Everyone listened, even the cat who was rather confused.

Teamwork is not underrated, especially when you’re little and the opponent is big.

Never give up!

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2 years ago today I got Scoliosis surgery

02 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, God, Scoliosis, time

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encouragement, God, joy, prayer, Scoliosis, scoliosis surgery, surgery

It’s been two years since surgery. That’s very hard for me to understand. It seems like just yesterday I got the surgery and yet forever ago. The first year and a half was lost in a time warp. I know young people heal quickly from Scoliosis surgery but for older folks like me, it took a long time, especially since my back was broken and damaged even before the surgery. The past couple months have been very very good and I’m glad I got the surgery! Life is good and getting better all the time. =)

I don’t have any photos to share today but I will share here…
A Prayer of Thanksgiving.

Thank you, God, for this time in my life. It hasn’t been easy recovering the past couple years but you have been with me through it all. I remember the night a couple months after surgery and the pain was so great that I couldn’t sleep. I asked you if I could fall asleep in your palm and I fell asleep instantly. Many nights after that I would pray “Can I please fall asleep in your palm tonight?” and not ten seconds passed when I was asleep, even despite the piercing pain. You are amazing, God. Thank you for the comfort.

Thanks, God for helping me not panic. The times I lay there looking at the ceiling and couldn’t move without assistance, the times when I couldn’t move my arms, the times when I thought I would break all over again. But I didn’t and you calmed me down and let me know that it was ok to just rest. It was ok to not move. It was ok for weeks to go by and seasons to pass. Thank you for the calm that covered my spirit.

Thank you, God for letting my husband and sons be so amazing. You knew I didn’t have parents or sisters nearby. You knew it was just me and the boys. Thank you for all that encouragement and loving patience from my sons. They were amazing! Thank you for the two years of cooking they did. Thank you for their diligence in picking things up from the floor and getting things out of cupboards for me and moving stuff when I needed it. God, they gave up so much to take care of me. Thank you for their huge hearts, their abundant energy and their unstoppable encouragement. Thank you for their laughter. Bless them over and above what they gave away.

Thank you, God, for always thinking kind thoughts toward us. We mess things up so much. Thank you for giving us order when there is chaos and direction when we’re lost. Thank you for helping us when we make stupid mistakes. God, I made a really stupid mistake when I didn’t seek medical attention when my back broke. We humans truly are bleating sheep sometimes. Thank you for guiding us and steering us in the right direction.

God, I love living on this earth. Even with disability, I LOVE being here. There are beautiful people here. The heartbeat in this world is beautiful and worth sustaining. Please forgive us when we have a “broken back” and don’t seek the right solution, when we try to fix things on our own. Please help us go through the hard times to get to the better times, the times that you planned for us. Thank you for being incredibly patient with us all.

And God, thank you so much for letting me be able to walk.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Brave Heart <3

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, Gilded Girls, Inspirational, Valentine's Day

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Tags

candy box, crafts, encouragement, Gilded Girls, heart, hope

Scripture says that we are all one body. Jesus prayed that we would all be one. Did you ever wonder what part of the body you are?
–Bone cells are very rigid. They are supposed to be that way. They don’t like change. But they have to be healthy with a little flex or they will become brittle and break.
–Nerve cells are super sensitive. They respond instantly and impulsively. They pass on messages without even thinking.
–Blood cells travel. They don’t stay in one place. They are very social. They pick up nutrients and components from some parts of the body and pass on nourishment to other parts. They are in constant communication as they travel.
–Heart cells go through repetitive motion, day and night. They don’t move around and they work incredibly hard.
What part of the body are you? What does an eyelash do? What does a toenail cell do? What does a skin cell do? What does a brain cell do?

I’ve wondered over the years what part of the body I am. Sometimes I think I know and then that changes and I’m not sure. But this I do know: I was made to meditate and be creative and make things with my hands.

I have friends who think arts and crafts are simply trivial stuff to do when you have spare time from your “real life” occupations. They think craft materials are a waste of money. But what if…consider carefully… what if being creative and making things with your hands WAS what you were created to do from the day you were formed? And if you stopped functioning in the capacity God planned when he made you, it would be a loss to humanity?

…pausing to reflect on this…

This was made with my hands.

Heart Box - materials and directions from Gilded Girls Stash Society


The beautiful design is by Alisa Noble using materials from Gilded Girls Stash Society.

For too many years, I set aside making things because it wasn’t considered valuable in my social circle. It wasn’t considered an asset to society. It was thought to be frivolous and unworthy and wasteful. But it was God who made me creative from the day I was formed and being creative fulfills his design for my life. When I live fully the way I was made, life is amazing and good and there is no darkness there.

Please be encouraged, dear creative reader, that what you do with your hands has enormous value to God. What you feel with your heart is valuable to humanity. What you say with your mouth is enlightening to society. Rejoice and be brave, don’t hold back.
I can’t remember where this is in the Bible but these words have encouraged me to be brave and pursue the creative life God planned for me. And this is my prayer for you:
– – – Be strong and of good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, he it is that goes with you, he will not fail you nor forsake you. – – –

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